EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern wrestling fans and friends of the program are invited to attend two events to officially conclude the successful 2011-12 season. The ’Cats will host their season-ending banquet at the Hilton Orrington Hotel in Evanston, Saturday, May 5 from noon-3 p.m. and their annual golf outing at the Chevy Chase Country Club (1000 N. Milwaukee Ave., Wheeling, Ill., 60090) Monday, May 21.

A downloadable registration form, which includes pricing and sponsorship information, for both events can be found at the top of this release.

NU had an exciting 2011-12 season which included a top-10 placement at the 2012 NCAA Championships, a program-best second-place finish at the 49th annual Midlands Championships and two more All-America honors. Under the direction of second-year head coach Drew Pariano, the ’Cats once again had another successful dual campaign, posting an 11-4 record and perfect 7-0 mark in nonconference duals.

Here are a number of highlights from the 2011-12 season that will be celebrated at the team banquet and golf outing:

• Despite being picked to finish 20th at NCAA’s by a number of wrestling publications, the ’Cats far succeeded those predictions, placing ninth and crowded two All-Americans. NU qualified six wrestlers for the tournament, which tied for the second-highest amount of qualifiers in school history, and each qualifier won at least one bout. The group of six included three returning qualifiers—junior Levi Mele (125), sophomore Kaleb Friedley (149) and junior Jason Welch (157)—and three redshirt freshmen—Pierce Harger (165), Lee Munster (174) and Mike McMullan (Hwt).

• McMullan and Welch found their way to the All-America podium, placing third and fourth, respectively. McMullan went 6-1 in his first NCAA championships, including an upset of No. 3 seed Clayton Jack from Oregon State in the third-place match. McMullan became the first NU redshirt freshman since Jake Herbert to earn All-America honors and he was the highest-placing redshirt freshman since Herbert finished third at 174 lbs. in 2005, the first of his four All-America honors. Welch became NU’s 15th two-time All-American, going 4-2 at 157 lbs. The three-time NCAA qualifier had the best record of his career, posting a 27-3 mark.

• Northwestern hosted the 49th edition of the Midlands Championships and crowned two champions en route to its runner-up finish, the best placement in school history. Welch and redshirt freshman Lee Munster both became first-time champions at 157 and 174 lbs., respectively.